COVID-19 Related Development Aid Provided by the US and the Russian Federation

Abstract

The outbreak of the pandemic of COVID-19 in 2020 affected all spheres of human life and reiterated the important role of international development cooperation. This paper provides a qualitative study of the international assistance by the United States and Russian Federation as active donors and suppliers of vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. The research is based on publications in scientific journals, as well as up-to-date information on the official websites of U.S. and Russian government agencies related to the provision of such assistance. In addition, publications of aggregated data on the fight against the spread of coronavirus are used. The results indicate that in spite of a large gap between the U.S. and Russia’s development aid volumes, the political ambitions and actual objectives of development aid policies are similar. The initial response to the pandemic was similar between both countries. However, as the situation developed, the attitude towards vaccination and subsequently providing vaccine doses as aid proved to be different between the U.S. and Russia. While the U.S. concentrated heavily on the vaccination of its own population, Russia made an emphasis on using its vaccine as a “soft power” on the international market.